Board 8 > Best Game of 2022 **FINAL RESULTS, PLUS A BONUS POLL**

(+) Yeah! (+)

Final bracket

https://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?1&tid=476903&tclass=

2022's Ultimate Loser

Elden Ring > Vampire > Neon White > Splatoon > Live a Live > Bayonetta 3 > NEEDY STREAMER OVERLOAD

History of a few prominent franchises from this year's contest...

From Software/Soulsbourne
Demon's Souls - Sweet 16 loss to Dragon Age, 2009
Dark Souls - Elite 8 loss to Skyward Sword, 2011
Dark Souls 2 - R1 loss to Crypt of the Necrodancer, 2014
Bloodborne - Finals loss to Rocket League, 2015
Dark Souls III - 2016 champion
Sekiro - R1 loss to Ring Fit Adventure, 2019
Elden Ring - 2022 champion

Kirby
Super Star - Elite 8 loss to Donkey Kong Country 3, 1996
Star Stacker - R1 loss to Cool Boarders 2, 1997
Dream Land 3 - Sweet 16 loss to Diddy Kong Racing, 1997
Kirby 64 - Elite 8 loss to Final Fantasy IX, 2000
Air Ride - R2 loss to Pokmon RSE, 2003
Amazing Mirror - R2 loss to Ratchet and Clank UYA, 2004
Canvas Curse - Elite 8 loss to Resident Evil 4, 2005
Squeak Squad - R1 loss to Gradius Collection, 2006
Super Star Ultra - R2 loss to SSB Brawl, 2008
Epic Yarn - Elite 8 loss to Final Fantasy 13, 2010
Return to Dreamland - Sweet 16 loss to Pokmon B/W, 2011
Triple Deluxe - Sweet 16 loss to Theatrhythm FF Curtain Call, 2014
Rainbow Curse - Sweet 16 loss to Rocket League, 2015
Planet Robobot - Elite 8 loss to Dark Souls III, 2016
Battle Royale - R1 loss to Pokmon Let's Go, 2018
Star Allies - Sweet 16 loss to Spider-Man, 2018
Dream Buffet - R2 loss to Arceus, 2022
Forgotten Land - Final Four loss to Elden Ring, 2022

Thanks for running this again, ZeroSignal! As someone who hasn't played any of the final 4 here, Kirby v ER was far closer than I anticipated and fun to watch.

ZeroSignal posted...

From Software/Soulsbourne
Demon's Souls - Sweet 16 loss to Dragon Age, 2009
Dark Souls - Elite 8 loss to Skyward Sword, 2011
Dark Souls 2 - R1 loss to Crypt of the Necrodancer, 2014
Bloodborne - Finals loss to Rocket League, 2015
Sekiro - R1 loss to Ring Fit Adventure, 2019

I wonder how many of these matches would flip if redone today.

Xenoblade
XC1- 2012 Champion
XCX - Final Four loss to Bloodborne, 2015
XC2 - Elite 8 loss to Persona 5, 2017
XC3 - R2 loss to Live a Live, 2023

God of War
1 - R2 loss to Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, 2005
2 - Elite Eight loss to Persona 3, 2007
Chains of Olympus - R1 loss to Order of Ecclesia, 2008
3 - Elite Eight loss to Mass Effect 2, 2010
Ghost of Sparta - R1 loss to Kirby's Epic Yarn, 2010
God of War (2018) - Finals loss to Smash Ultimate, 2018
Ragnarok - Elite Eight loss to Vampire Survivors, 2022

ZeroSignal posted...

Sekiro - R1 loss to Ring Fit Adventure, 2019

Fuckin what

Elden Ring just isn't my type of game at all, but it's good to see new single player games doing well.

VS was definitely the more fun of the two for me. Drop in and out games definitely rising up the ladder for me overall.

Johnbobb posted...

Fuckin what

I was as shocked as you were, believe me. Ring Fit won in overtime and became the first 15 seed in tournament history to win a match.

It then won against Astral Chain and then literally needed 4 days to lose 60-59 to Yooka-Laylee 2

Ring Fit Adventure is great

I mean, Ring Fit does indeed fucking rock. Don't know if I would take it over Sekiro though.

ZeroSignal posted...

Dark Souls - Elite 8 loss to Skyward Sword, 2011

What I want to know is: How did a game as bad as Skyward Snore make the F4?

BlueCrystalTear posted...

What I want to know is: How did a game as bad as Skyward Snore make the F4?

It's a console Zelda game on a Nintendo-dominant website

I played Vampire Survivors the other day and uh boy if that's a finalist game then that's a powerful indictment of this whole year lol

for the record I like Ring Fit it's just not something I'd ever expect to see beat a super acclaimed From Soft game

Paratroopa1 posted...

I played Vampire Survivors the other day and uh boy if that's a finalist game then that's a powerful indictment of this whole year lol

I haven't played it personally but watching gameplay of it I don't really get the appeal at all

It's rare when my favorite thing of the year actually wins something but man does it feel good!

Vampire Survivors is great and very addicting

Xenoblade 3 really didn't do so hot.

Paratroopa1 posted...

I played Vampire Survivors the other day and uh boy if that's a finalist game then that's a powerful indictment of this whole year lol

Just happened to catch fire at the right time and enough supporters to squeak by vastly superior games by 1-2 votes.

Kirby's the real runner-up, let's be honest. Only game in the whole contest that lost by anything under 11 votes to the champ, and needed two days to go down.

Elden Ring vs Kirby is a completely deserved final

KamikazePotato posted...

Xenoblade 3 really didn't do so hot.

yeah it was robbed. it's not a perfect game but it has one of the best "stretches" in any JRPG ever. it has a great beginning, dips for a while, has a truly awesome stretch, and then kind of fizzles out.

also I would definitely vote for ring fit over sekiro, and probably over elden ring.

I think Kirby is the real bellweather for a disappointing 2022, not Vampire Survivors. At least by B8's preferences. When this board has to latch onto a C-string Nintendo series, something went a bit wrong.

Forgotten Land is in no way a C-list Nintendo game, it's one of the finest platformers I've played in a long time

the real disappointment is that needy streamer overload didn't win

2022 was a great year for games, and Forgotten Land is probably the best Kirby game ever made.

UF8 posted...

the real disappointment is that needy streamer overload didn't win

Too many people confused because it wasn't called Needy Streamer Overdose

MacArrowny posted...

and Forgotten Land is definitely the best Kirby game ever made.

Fixed

Maybe one more...

Pokmon
RBY - 1998 Champion
GSC - 2000 Champion
RSE - Sweet 16 loss to Jak II, 2003
FR/LG - R2 loss to Pokmon2, 2004
DPP - R2 loss to PW: Justice for All, 2007
B/W - Elite 8 loss to Portal 2, 2011
B/W 2 - Final Four loss to Borderlands 2, 2012
XY - Sweet 16 loss to PW: Dual Destinies, 2013
OR/AS - R2 loss to Walking Dead Season 2, 2014
Sun/Moon - Finals loss to Dark Souls III, 2016
Ultra Sun/Moon - R1 loss to Nioh, 2017
Sword/Shield - R2 loss to Trails of Cold Steel III, 2019
BD/SP - R1 loss to Sumire, 2021
Scarlet/Violet - Elite 8 loss to Kirby, 2022

Yeah Kirby may be a C-list franchise but Forgotten Land is definitely not a C-list game, its perhaps the best received and definitely the best selling in the franchises history. I do think there was a little bit if people just trying to stop Elden Ring though. Vampire Survivors is great too. 2022 was certainly not a disappointing year.

Also lets not pretend that people didnt love Skyward Sword when it came out. It was later on when it became cool to hate that game.

MacArrowny posted...

2022 was a great year for games, and Forgotten Land is probably the best Kirby game ever made.

Too many people confused because it wasn't called Needy Streamer Overdose

it's only called overdose in japan (and it's needy girl there) but true

BlueCrystalTear posted...

What I want to know is: How did a game as bad as Skyward Snore make the F4?

This was only a couple of months after the game first released and most people were still very high on it back then.

A few others...

Star Ocean
The Second Story - R2 loss to Crash Team Racing, 1999
Til the End of Time - R2 loss to Shadow Hearts: Covenant, 2004
The Last Hope - R1 loss to Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, 2009
The Divine Force - R2 loss to Elden Ring, 2022

Fire Emblem
Genealogy of the Holy War - R2 loss to Twisted Metal 2, 1996
Fire Emblem - Sweet 16 loss to Disgaea, 2003
Sacred Stones - Elite 8 loss to Mario Kart DS, 2005
Path of Radiance - Sweet 16 loss to Phoenix Wright, 2005
Radiant Dawn - R2 loss to Guitar Hero 3, 2007
Shadow Dragon - R1 loss to Left 4 Dead 2 2009
Awakening - Elite 8 loss to Link Between Worlds, 2013
Fates - Sweet 16 loss to Stardew Valley, 2016
Echoes - R1 loss to The Evil Within 2, 2017
Three Houses - R2 loss to Tetris 99, 2019
Three Hopes - R2 loss to Mario + Rabbids 2, 2022

ZeroSignal posted...

Three Houses - R2 loss to Tetris 99, 2019

Wow, this one surprises me!

Paratroopa1 posted...

Forgotten Land is in no way a C-list Nintendo game, it's one of the finest platformers I've played in a long time

I don't even like the Kirby series, but Forgotten Land was easily one of the top games of the year for me! Agree with it being one of the best platformers in recent memory.

andylt posted...

Wow, this one surprises me!

2019 was the last crazy year we had before 2022.

Three Houses was the overall 2nd seed in the tournament and dropped in round 2.

Along with that, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night also got a #1 seed and dropped in round 2 to Life is Strange 2.

Of course as mentioned earlier, Sekiro became the first and only #2 seed to lose its opening match.

Even a #3 seed lost in round 1 that year, Slay the Spire dropped to Devotion.

No tournament would be complete without a 12 > 5 upset, and Bug Fables did just that beating Jedi Fallen Order. It almost beat Mario Maker 2 in round 2.

Ring Fit Adventure became the first #15 seed to win a match, and did that twice. RFA vs Yooka-Laylee 2 in round 3 became the longest match in tournament history, clocking in at 96 hours.

The last two #1s made it to the semifinals. Kingdom Hearts III dropped to Disco Elysium in a nice upset, while overall #1 seed Resident Evil 2 lost in OT to AI: The Somnium Files

Finally, in a rare 4 seed vs 2 seed final, Disco Elysium (2) defeated AI (4) 15-13. While it would eventually make its way to consoles in later years, at the time Disco Elysium was still PC only, making it the first standalone PC title to win Game of the Year

Wall of Champions 1996-2022
Super Mario RPG
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Pokmon RBY
Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage
Pokmon GSC
Super Smash Bros Melee
Metroid Prime
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Metal Gear Solid 3
Resident Evil 4
Okami
Super Mario Galaxy
Persona 4
Uncharted 2
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Portal 2
Xenoblade Chronicles
Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Super Smash Bros for Wii U
Rocket League
Dark Souls III
Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Super Smash Bros Ultimate
Disco Elysium
Hades
Metroid Dread
Elden Ring

I forgot how bonkers these tournaments could be. I still haven't played Disco but it's pretty cool that it won that year!

I just wish the 2019 tournament had happened after we all played Outer Wilds

On you for taking so long to play Outer Wilds tbqh. I played it in September of that year.